The Malay Archipelago refers to the archipelago between mainland Southeastern Asia and Australia.
It has also been called the East Indies, the Indo-Australian Archipelago, Indonesian Archipelago and other names over time.
The archipelago is between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The group has over 25,000 islands. It is the largest archipelago by area, and third by number of islands in the world. It includes Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Brunei, East Malaysia and East Timor.
The island of New Guinea or islands of Papua New Guinea are not always included in definitions of the Malay Archipelago. The Indonesian Moluccas are included in the archipelago.